In order to achieve peace, we need the will to attain it and courageous political leaders who are determined to work for it

Clashes near the border between Israel and Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip on Nov. 9 (Photo published in La Croix, Nov. 14/Said Khatib/AFP)

No words could convey the tragic absurdity that is taking place in Gaza more eloquently than this photograph.

Near the border with Israel, a strange dusk, caused by tear gas, veils the sun. Two men, one masked and one not, run in opposite directions to escape the gas. In the background, there is an army of ghostly figures who may be actors or spectators of the unfolding drama.

In spite of the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas, the time for hope (or even for relief) remains elusive. Literally and figuratively, the air is unbreathable. Life has lost its color and meaning.

We would like to forget this theater of war and violence. We would like to believe that, on each side of the wall, Palestinians and Israelis will be able to live a more or less peaceful everyday life.

But the most recent events remind us that nothing is being done by either side to ease the tension. And it is the people themselves who are suffering the consequences.

The shocking resignation of the Israeli Minister of Defense, Avigdor Lieberman, over disagreement with the ceasefire decision (and ahead of the anticipated parliamentary elections) is confirmation that the aim for many leaders is not to achieve peace, but rather to maintain or take back power and its advantages.

There are, moreover, covert actions and self-interested support on the part of other countries, which are defending their own ideologies by proxy.

In the complexity of the Middle East, this strategy — of fighting behind other combatants and in countries other than one’s own — is widespread.

It is difficult to have confidence in the future: all the more so because this inextinguishable fire is feeding the resentment and radicalization of young Muslims in other parts of the world.

Is this not one of the factors in the resurgence of anti-Semitism that we are witnessing today in France and elsewhere?

In order to achieve peace, there must be the willingness to attain it, and courageous political leaders and sponsors who are determined to use their power to seek peace, to work for it, and to guarantee commitments that have been made.

Neither the political leaders of the Middle East nor the United States seem prepared to begin this arduous process.

During his public audience last Wednesday, Pope Francis stated: “The use of violence has never led to peace. War invokes war, violence invokes violence.” He asked the parties concerned and the international community to commit themselves to “dialogue, justice and peace.”

There can be no peace without justice, which also takes time to achieve. As for reconciliation … it seems utterly unattainable.

However, the World War I commemorations were a timely and abundant reminder that after all the hatred and millions of deaths, another path is possible.

Did all the heads of state and governments present on Nov.11 near the Arc de Triomphe in Paris understand this message, given not only by the great men who worked towards reconciliation in Europe, but also by the people who initially accepted it and then experienced and internalized it?

Indeed, these were the victors of peace.

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